Puzzle.



No. 666,022. I Patented Ian. l5, I90l. H. F. NORRIS &. P. B. SPBAGUE.

P U Z Z LE (Application filed Dec. 26, 1899.)

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PATENT QFFICE.

HARRY F. NORRIS AND PARKER B. SPRAGUE, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

PUZZLE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 666,022, dated January15, 1901. Application filed December 26, 1899. Serial No. #41510. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, HARRY F. NORRIS and PARKER B. SPRAGUE, citizens ofthe United States of America residing at Denver, in the county ofArapahoe and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Puzzles; and we do declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description ofthe invention,such as willenable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in puzzles; and it consists of thefeatures hereinafter described and claimed, all of which will be fullyunderstood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which isillustrated an embodiment thereof.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section taken through the bulbportion of the device, showing the tube in elevation. Fig. 2 is asection taken on the line Y Y, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a top view of thedevice. Fig. 4 is a section taken on the broken lineX X, Fig. 2.

Similar reference characters indicating corresponding parts in theviews, let the numeral 5 designate a bulb composed of some transparentmaterial, preferably glass. This bulb is provided with a neck 5*, inwhich is inserted a tube 6, also preferably composed of glass andattached to the neck of the bulb by heating the parts sufficiently toblend them together, whereby a substantially integral device is formed.The outer extremity of the tube, as well as the neck of the bulb, isopen, while the inner extremity of the tube directly in line with theopen outer extremity is closed. The tube projects into the bulb beyondthe neck of the latter and is provided near its inner extremity with twoopenings 6 located diametrically opposite each other. The tube 6 ispreferably cylindrical in shape. On one side thereof is formed a smallexternal groove 6, leading from the neck of the bulb inwardly to one ofthe holes 6 of the tube. A small ball 7 is dropped into the bulb throughthe tube, entering by way of an orifice 6*, both of the orifices 6 beinglarge enough to allow it to pass. The bulb is preferably spherical oroval in shape, and its body portion is much larger than the tube, sothat the space between the inner wall of the bulb and the floatingportion of the tube containing the orifices will be considerable.

The solution of the puzzle consists in getting the ball out of the bulbby way of the tube. This can be done by inverting the bulb and gettingthe ball in line with the groove 6 of the tube, then tilting the devicesufficiently to cause the ball to travel down the groove to an opening6, and finally by returning the device to the inverted vertical positionbefore the ball has time to drop through the opposite opening 6 Theoperation will be found fascinating, amusing, and good practice for thenerves, since the device must be held with a steady hand until the ballbegins to run in the groove toward the orifice and then shifted to thevertical position with great celerity in order to accomplish the desiredend.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is As an improvedarticle of manufacture the device herein described composed of a bulband a tube protruding thereinto and provided with oppositely-locatedorifices, the inner extremity of the tube being closed and the outerextremity open.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

HARRY F. NORRIS. PARKER B. SPRAGUE.

Witnesses:

GRACE MYTINGER, A. J. OBRIEN.

